A biolaboratory containing contagious pathogens has been seized by fighters in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The laboratory, which includes isolates of polio, measles and cholera, among other dangerous materials, has been taken over by unidentified fighters, raising concerns about a potential outbreak.

Reports suggest that Sudanese fighters have taken over the laboratory, with conflicting reports as to which of the two factions, the army or the RSF, is occupying the building. However, a recent CNN report suggests that the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, has taken control of the lab.

Since the laboratory contains numerous dangerous pathogens, the risk of a biohazard is high. A senior medical source told CNN that “the danger lies in the outbreak of any armed confrontation in the laboratory because that will turn the laboratory into a germ bomb.”

“Urgent and rapid international intervention is needed to restore electricity and protect the laboratory from any armed confrontation because we are facing a real biological danger,” the source added.

Nima Saeed Abid, the WHO representative in Sudan, told the media that the situation was “extremely dangerous”. He warned that power outages may also have spoiled blood bags stored at the facility.

“This is extremely, extremely dangerous because we have polio isolates in the laboratory,” he told a UN briefing in Geneva by video call from Port Sudan. “We have measles isolates in the laboratory. We have cholera isolates in the laboratory. There is a high biological risk associated with the occupation of the central public health laboratory in Khartoum by one of the warring parties.”

The WHO has warned that the expulsion of technicians and blackouts in Khartoum have made it impossible to properly manage the biological materials stored in the laboratory for medical purposes. This situation has generated concerns about a possible public health crisis, given the danger posed by the biological and chemical materials present in the laboratory.

The Sudan National Public Health Laboratory is supported by several US government agencies, including: the Department of Defense (DOD), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the US Agency for to International Development (USAID).

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) recently asked USAID Administrator Samantha Power about her funding of biomedical research around the world. At issue was USAID’s funding of risky coronavirus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the site of a suspected lab leak that led to the Covid-19 outbreak.

While there is no evidence that dangerous pathogens like the novel coronavirus were housed at Sudan’s National Public Health Laboratory, the threat to public health recalls that US officials sounded the alarm about biolabs in Ukraine that they could fall into the hands of the invading Russian forces.

“*” Indicates mandatory fields

OPINION: This article contains comments that reflect the opinion of the author.

Source link